It is only too easy to argue
that Zimbabwe's opposition Movement forDemocratic Change (MDC) did the right
thing in deciding last week to suspendany further participation in polls
until President Robert Mugabe'sgovernment adheres to the electoral standards
laid down by the SouthernAfrican Development Community (SADC) heads of state
in Mauritius last month.It is more difficult to say the party did the wrong
thing. But it isbeginning to look like that.

The MDC was right in
claiming that any future election would place it at anunfair disadvantage
given Zanu PF's refusal to do anything more than submitto pressure from the
SADC leaders for technical reforms in the conduct ofpolls. While those
reforms, providing for independent electoralinstitutions, non-discriminatory
voter registration, and accessible voters'rolls, among other things, will do
much to improve the electoral process inZimbabwe, they don't address the
wider context. Mauritian Prime MinisterPaul Berenger spelt that out when he
said "really free and fair electionsmean not only an independent electoral
commission, but also include freedomof assembly and absence of physical
harassment by the police or any otherentity, freedom of the press and access
to national radio and television,and external and credible observation of
the whole electoral process".

The MDC will argue that none of those
broader, but essential, requirementsare in place. More to the point, Zanu PF
appears to have no intention ofputting them there. Even before the ink was
dry on the Grande Baie protocol,Zimbabwean ministers were planning new ways
of closing democratic space byfurther restricting freedom of expression and
association ahead of a generalelection scheduled for March. A proposed NGO
Bill plans to do to civilsociety what Mugabe's media law did to the press -
muzzle it. Both the SADCand the African Union share a commitment to popular
participation in thepolitical process. But voters cannot make an informed
choice if they aredenied access to competing views or don't know what their
rights are. NGOsperform a vital public service as electoral monitors and in
telling voterswhat rights they have. Now they will be closed down if they
areforeign-funded, leaving the electoral terrain wide open to
Mugabe'sblandishments - and his militias.

The SADC principles
require equal access to the media for contestingparties. Far from tolerating
dissent, Zimbabwe's public media pour forth adaily diet of calumnies and
hate speech directed at the opposition and civilsociety. Partisan policing
and a judiciary subject to constant threats makefor a toxic political
climate that is designed to discourage people fromexercising their rights.
It is, therefore, understandable that the MDCshould wish to draw a line in
the sand, refusing to provide a veneer oflegitimacy to the ruling party's
electoral chicanery. But the timing isterrible. Whatever we might say about
the reluctance of SADC leaders to makea stand against misrule in Zimbabwe,
the fact is they have now succumbed topatient prodding from President Thabo
Mbeki and set down benchmarks onelectoral reform that are
unambiguous.

What was required was for the MDC to test the water. It
should have usedParliament to showcase the government's recidivism over the
NGO Bill. Andthen explained to the country and the region the implications
of stuntedelectoral education and monitoring as Zanu PF's militias move into
action.It should have applied for access to the Zimbabwe Broadcasting
Corporationand monitored professional standards in the broadcaster's
coverage wellahead of the March poll. It should have seen who Mugabe
appoints as head ofthe new electoral commission. This was an ideal
opportunity to test thegovernment's sincerity against the SADC electoral
principles, step by step.Each new travesty could be documented - but only if
the MDC waved a yellowcard. As it is, SADC heads will feel their efforts
were ill-rewarded. Butworse, they now have the perfect excuse to nod through
the March electionoutcome, however un-free or unfair. The MDC has let them
off the hook justas they were showing a hint of firmness. MDC leader Morgan
Tsvangirai'sassurance to his followers this week that "the political
electric fence thatdenied you access to the watermelon has rusted away" may
prove a tadoptimistic. If the MDC decides to re-engage early next year when
SADCleaders might secure a political opening ahead of the March poll, it
couldwell be too late to make a difference.

Iden Wetherell is group
projects editor of the Zimbabwe Independent andStandard newspapers

HARARE - Non Governmental
Organisations (NGOs) are set to meet thisweekend in the resort town of
Victoria Falls to plot nationwide protestsnext week against a proposed law
that will severely curtail their work inthe country.

National
association of NGOs executive director Jonah Mudehwe saidthat besides the
protest scheduled for Tuesday, they had also briefed UnitedNations
Development Programme's resident representative in Zimbabwe, VictorAngelo,
in a bid to harness international support against the draft NGO Billexpected
to become law next month.

Mudehwe said: "We have agreed to stage
protests on Tuesday againstthe Bill. Members have agreed to team up in
resisting the intentions ofgovernment aimed at shutting down most
NGOs."

The draft law requires NGOs to register with a
government-appointedcouncil. Under the proposed law, civic groups will be
barred from receivingforeign funding and from engaging in work related to
human rights andgovernance issues. NGOs say the law will virtually force
about 90 percentof them to shut down.

Mudehwe refused to say
what help, if any, Angelo had promised the NGOsin their fight against the
Bill. He would only say: "We met as part of thedevelopment issues, and
naturally the issues of the Bill came up.

"But it would not be
proper for me to discuss what came out of themeeting. Talk to the resident
representative himself." Angelo could not bereached for comment on the
matter yesterday.

The National Constitutional Assembly, which is
part of Mudehwe's NGOsassociation, this week handed a petition to South
Africa's ambassador toZimbabwe, Jeremiah Ndou, requesting Pretoria to take a
more robust approachto help end Zimbabwe's crisis. ZimOnline

HARARE - The ruling ZANU PF party's Phineas Chihota yesterday
won theSeke parliamentary seat unopposed after the main opposition Movement
forDemocratic Change (MDC) stuck to its decision not to take part in
electionsuntil the country's electoral laws were changed.

ZANU
PF's victory brings to 98 the total number of seats controlled bythe party
in Zimbabwe's 150-member House. The ruling party now needs onlytwo more
seats to reach the crucial two-thirds majority that would enablethe party to
change Zimbabwe's constitution.

The MDC, which held the Seke seat
before the death of itsparliamentarian Ben Tumbare Mutasa about two months
ago, now controls 51seats. Another smaller opposition party holds one
seat.

The MDC, which emerged four years ago as the biggest threat
toPresident Robert Mugabe and his ZANU PF party's 24-year hold on power,
saysit will not take party in elections including next March's
parliamentarypolls unless the country's electoral laws are genuinely
reformed.

The party wants Zimbabwe's electoral processes brought in
sync withSouthern African Development Community (SADC) norms and standards
forelections. The regional norms require the setting up of
independentelectoral bodies to run elections. The electoral processes must
betransparent while human and individual rights must be upheld
duringelections, according to the SADC norms.

Mugabe has
promised to appoint a new Zimbabwe Electoral Commissionwhich shall be tasked
with running elections. The MDC says Mugabe isinsincere as the proposed new
commission will lack independence because itschairman will be answerable to
Mugabe. ZimOnline

HARARE - An Amnesty International official arrested by police two daysago at
Porta Farm squatter camp just outside Harare was yesterday releasedfrom
custody.

Obert Chinhamo, who works for Amnesty in Harare and an
official of thelocal Non-Violent Action for Social Change, Masanho
Maruwacha, were arrestedon Wednesday.

The two had gone to the
squatter camp to check on reports that thepolice, aided by ruling ZANU PF
party militia had set the camp on fire in abid to evict the squatters
despite a High Court order prohibiting them fromdoing so.

A
lawyer representing the two men, Alec Muchadehama, said they werereleased on
Z$100 000 (US$17 at the official rate) bail each. They willreturn to court
on 20 September to answer to charges of public violence.

The
squatters were dumped at Porta Farm by the government in 1991after being
rounded up from the streets of Harare and another squatter campwhich was
located nearer to the capital. ZimOnline

BULAWAYO - Ivy Sibanda's home resembles a refugee
camp for residentsof Ward 23 in Bulawayo's Nkulumane suburb. Toddlers,
teenagers, parents andgrandparents stream in and out all day to play, chat
about their health andwelfare or get something to eat.

"Everyone is welcome here anytime of the day. I've somehow become
theneighbourhood granny," explained Sibanda while a four-year old boy plays
onher lap. The boy is not her grandson but one of over 600 orphans
thatSibanda assists through a community-based organisation that she
heads.

A nurse by profession, Sibanda is chairperson of Silundika
AIDS HealthProject. The project was set up in 2000 to help feed and send to
schoolorphans in the suburb. Each month, the project gives the orphans
food, soapand helps with payment of rent, water and electricity
bills.

The food and money comes from various international
donororganisations and is channeled through the Matabeleland AIDS
Council.

The 20 members of the project also offer home-based care
to bed-riddenAIDS patients in the Ward.

During the past year,
Silundika members have been forced to expandtheir activities to include
helping orphans reclaim lost family houses.According to Sibanda, an
increasing number of minor children find themselveshomeless when their
parents die of AIDS because unscrupulous relatives wouldhave sold off their
late parents' houses.

In the past year alone, Silundika members
have helped repossess 15homes which had been sold behind orphans'
backs.

Kundai Madyahoto is one of the orphans that Silundika is
helping atthe moment. Kundai's parents died of AIDS-related illnesses.
According toKundai, her aunt sold her late parents' home in February this
year.

She said her aunt, who is an informal trader, said she was
selling theproperty to recover money she had spent taking care of Kundai's
mother.

The new owner of the house has vowed to evict Kundai and
her foursiblings. She said some months ago the new owner came to 'their
house' andthrew their belongings onto the street. They are still at the
house todayonly because the police ordered the new owner not to evict them
until theownership dispute was resolved, said Kundayi.

Now with
the help of neighbours and Silundika, Kundayi insists she andher siblings
will fight to have back their parents' house. "We are notleaving. Where do
we go if we leave our parents' home? If we move out wewill end up as street
kids. We will be forced to steal or becomeprostitutes to survive," she
said.

Kilibong Nkomo, another member of Silundika blamed the
problemsKundayi and many other such orphans across Zimbabwe have to face
when theirparents die on greedy and selfishness. She said: "It is greed and
lack offeeling. Relatives do not care about the children's welfare. They
justwant to grab the property."

Nkomo complained that helping
resolve the house disputes takes up toomuch time and money as they have to
shuttle between the police, courts andnon-governmental organisations such as
Childline and Zimbabwe Women LawyersAssociation to get expert help to have
the disputes resolved. And thisleaves little time to focus on their core
activities.

According to Sibanda there was need to revise property
transfer rulesto save orphans from losing their homes and the hassle of
claiming themback. She said most sick parents would have been coerced or
cheated toenter into agreeing to sell their properties.

Sibanda
said: "Most of the times, the relatives use forged papers totransfer
ownership. Also, the parents will be very sick and disorientatedand unaware
what they will be signing for (when they agree to sale houses).Surely, such
agreements should not be valid. The practice is inhuman."ZimOnline

Harare - Zimbabwean Christians from
many denominations on Fridayjoined in strong public support of Roman
Catholic Archbishop Pius Ncube ofBulawayo who has been denounced as
"satanic" by President Robert Mugabe fordemanding tougher international
pressure to end human rights abuses.

In a series of statements
which defied Zimbabwe's draconian securitylegislation, the archbishop's
supporters accused Mugabe's government ofintolerance which "amounted to
persecution of the church".

Ncube says 10 000 Zimbabweans have
already died of hunger andmalnutrition as a result of 80-year-old Mugabe's
use of famine relief as apolitical weapon and disruption of commercial
agriculture by "fast trackland reform".

Ncube also alleges
state-sponsored agitation surrounding the seizureof 5 000 white-owned farms
was exploited as a "smokescreen to intimidateopposition".

'A humble man of God who speaks the truth' In a speech in Harare on
August 21, in Ncube's presence, Mugabeaccused him of "joining hands with our
erstwhile colonial masters to peddlelies" and allowing the church "to be
infiltrated by the British".

Three organisations on Friday placed a
joint advertisement in theprivately-owned Zimbabwe Independent describing
Ncube as a "true patriot"and "a humble man of God who speaks the
truth".

The organisations included the Catholic Commission for
Justice andPeace, Christians Together for Justice and Peace, and the
Solidarity PeaceTrust. The latter two are groupings, including Protestants
and some SouthAfrican churches and religious organisations dedicated to
helping victims ofviolence.

They condemned recent claims by
state media that Ncube's words "borderon treason" and that he should be
banned from travelling outside Zimbabwe.

Residents of a
shantytown on the outskirts of Harare have clashed withpolice and municipal
workers who, the residents say, were trying to evictthem. The police were
acting despite a court ruling Wednesday temporarilybarring the government
from evicting the residents or destroying theirproperty.Porta Farm, a
shantytown on the edges of Harare, was actually started by thegovernment,
which moved homeless people from the streets of Harare to theoutskirts of
the city ahead of British Queen Elizabeth's visit in 1991. Thegovernment did
not want the queen to see the homeless on the streets ofHarare.

Over
the years, the residents created their own infrastructure, includingschools
and some health services. They also constructed homes.

As poverty gripped
the country in the last five years, many people could nolonger afford to pay
rent in the city and moved to Porta Farm. About 10,000people live there
today, according to government estimates.

Last month, the minister of
local government, Ignatius Chombo, issued anultimatum to them to vacate the
area and make way for what he said would bea new sewage works. He gave the
families until August 15 to move, and manyresisted.

The residents
argued the only income they had came from fishing at a largelake nearby, and
the area they were due to move to, on the east of Harare,was dry. They also
said there were no schools or infrastructure on the land.

This week a
group of them went to court, which ordered that they be allowedto stay in
their homes.

Police spokesman Wyne Bvudzijena said the settlers had
attacked governmentemployees and so tear gas was used against them. Police
have stopped allvisitors to the informal settlement.

An elderly man, believed to have been
sleeping in his shack, died, andseveral police officers were injured when
the residents resisted removal.Two human rights workers from Amnesty
International and an NGO, Non-ViolentAction for Social Change, were arrested
and charged with inciting publicviolence.

The police action was in
defiance of a High Court ruling on Wednesday,ordering the government not to
evict the squatters or demolish theirdwellings.

A statement by Crisis
Coalition, a pro-democracy NGO, noted: "The Coalitiononce again reiterates
that the government must be committed to the rule oflaw, and that there must
be an end to the continued disregard of judgementsthat are passed by the
courts, as is the case involving Porta Farmresidents."

Porta Farm,
one of Harare's poorest communities, was established in 1991 bythe
government as a transit camp for homeless people taken from the streetsof
the capital. The clean-up was done ahead of a visit by the Britishmonarch,
Queen Elizabeth II, to open a Commonwealth Heads of
GovernmentMeeting.

After more than a decade of being denied official
status, the governmentannounced last month that the residents would be
relocated to make way for asewage treatment plant to be constructed in the
area. The community, orderedto move to a new farm lacking basic public
facilities, vowed to resist.

"We were shocked by the government's move to
evict us and build a sewageplant ... We have been living here at Porta Farm
for 14 years," the chairmanof the residents association, Khumbulani Khumalo
said in an earlierinterview with IRIN. "How can the government take us to a
land where thereare no toilets and water?" he asked.

With few
employment opportunities, fishing in nearby Lake Chivero providedsome income
for the Porta Farm community.

"We have been fisherman for several years
and we had established goodmarkets in Harare which we were supplying with
fish. If we are moved to anew area, most people will have to find new ways
of making money and I knowmost people will just resort to criminal
activities to make money," residentMichael Tinarwo told IRIN.

HARARE -
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, who has repeatedly accusedWestern powers
of trying to unseat him, has warned the new British, US andAustralian envoys
to Harare against trying to effect a regime change,reports said
Friday.

"You are suspected to be coming for regime change and it's
yourresponsibility to correct that," Mugabe was quoted by the state media
astelling Britain's new ambassador Roderick Pullen on Thursday, when
hepresented his credentials.

"You cannot go about the Kosovo,
Yugoslavia way. Your predecessor tried andfailed," Mugabe said, referring to
former high commissioner (ambassador)Brian Donnelly, who was accused by the
Zimbabwean government of trying tohelp the opposition Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC) to oust Mugabe.

Pullen meanwhile said he would
work to improve the strained relationsbetween Zimbabwe and its former
colonial ruler.

Mugabe also received credentials from the new US
ambassador, ChristopherDell, saying there had been media reports that his
mission was to unseat thegovernment.

"There is that cloud of
suspicion and you have to clear it. We want to seefrom your deeds and
utterances what your real mission is. If you have beenmisrepresented, you
have to prove it," Mugabe told Dell.

But Dell reportedly denied ever
speaking about regime change.

"I will work to restore friendship between
our two countries and I have nointention to effect regime change in
Zimbabwe," Dell told Mugabe.

Mugabe separately told the new diplomat from
Australia, Jonathan Sheppard,that he was concerned about false perceptions
created by Australia andBritain on the situation in
Zimbabwe.

"Britain and Australia say I am illegitimate. Africa says I am
legitimate.So could all these people (African leaders) be wrong?"

"No
we don't accept that. If only the truth could be basis of the
judgment,"Mugabe told Sheppard while denying any crisis in
Zimbabwe.

Mugabe vowed to fight any attempts to remove him from power by
externalforces "armed with weapons of mass destruction".

"We resist
bullies even though we are little fellows in the internationalcommunity," he
said, adding "even little fellows have rights too".

[ This report does not necessarily
reflect the views of the United Nations]

HARARE, 3 Sep 2004 (IRIN) -
Non-governmental organisations in Zimbabwe willhave an opportunity next week
to raise their concerns about a proposed lawthat seeks to clamp down on
local groups receiving foreign funding for thepromotion of human rights and
good governance.

Rights groups have argued that, if passed, the law would
further restrictcivil liberties, but the authorities have countered that the
draft bill ismeant to regulate the operations of NGOs for national security
reasons.

President Robert Mugabe has long accused the NGO community of
meddling inthe country's politics.

Groups involved in human rights
work are concerned that withoutinternational aid their operations would be
seriously compromised.

The Zimbabwe Association for Crime Prevention and
Rehabilitation (ZACRO), anNGO running rehabilitation programmes in prisons,
has remarked that sincethe proposal of the bill donors had become
increasingly nervous about theirassociation with groups tackling human
rights or good governance issues.Many were now "fence sitters", Edson
Chihota, the national treasurer ofZACRO, told IRIN.

The government
grant to ZACRO of Zim $1 million (about US $180,000) a yearhas proved
inadequate for a prison system involving 42 prisons and more than20,000
inmates, and the money allowed ZACRO to do little beyond operating askeleton
staff and paying for administrative costs such as electricity,water and
telephone bills.

Chihota said they were sometimes allowed to operate a
casino, from whichthey obtained "a few [Zimbabwean] dollars", and received
some assistancefrom organisations such as the Prison Fellowship, who were
also funded bychurches and donors. However, there was a need for strong and
continuousdonor support.

Government had shown interest in the idea of
a comprehensive donor-assistedHIV/AIDS programme in prisons, but this was
now uncertain because of the NGOBill.

A report compiled by the
Institute of Correctional and Security Studies saidmore than half of all
prisoners in Zimbabwe were HIV positive.

The government funds HIV/AIDS
programmes through a levy administered by theNational Aids Council (NAC),
but not much money finds its way to theprisons. "Government is getting money
from NAC funds, but why is it usedonly for peer education in the prisons?
Why not for the purchase of drugs?Why not for identifying a special diet?"
Chihota asked.

The authorities are also reluctant to provide employment
for ex-prisoners,even those possessing nationally recognised certificates in
"motormechanics, tin smithing, carpentry, welding, O and A levels" but, at
thesame time, ZACRO funds from government were insufficient to
provideex-offenders with real security upon release.

Chihota added
that ZACRO had unsuccessfully lobbied the land ministry for afarm to serve
as a halfway home for ex-prisoners, where they could acquirehands-on
experience in their chosen fields and generate some income beforebranching
out on their own. ZACRO would have expected to source funds forthis project
from donors.

Rachel Rufu, an official of the NGO section of the ministry
of labour andsocial welfare tasked with administering the bill, said donors
and NGOs werebeing unnecessarily "jittery".

"They have nothing to
worry about. They should carry on with their work. Itstill has to be debated
in public and parliament in the next three months,and changes may be
effected. No one can be prosecuted now on the grounds ofthe bill - it's not
yet law," she told IRIN.

But Fambai Ngirande of the advocacy team for the
National Association ofNGOs (NANGO) said NGOs had reason to be concerned and
aware of the currentinterpretations of the bill.

He said NANGO was in
discussion with the labour ministry and wouldparticipate in a public hearing
on 7 September to put forward a request fora "redraft of some of the
issues".

President Robert
Mugabe warned the incoming ambassadors from Britain, theUnited States,
Australia and Nigeria not to meddle in his nation's politicallife, state
radio reported.

Mugabe, receiving the diplomatic credentials of the
ambassadors, who werenewly posted to Harare, challenged US ambassador
Christopher Dell "to dispelreports he is on a mission for regime change" in
Zimbabwe, the radio said.

It said Mugabe told the ambassadors at their
accreditation ceremony thatZimbabweans had the right to determine their own
destiny without theinterference of outsiders.

Britain and Australia have been among the harshest critics of
ruling partypolicies, including the often-violent seizures of thousands of
white-ownedfarms, that have led to political violence and economic
turmoil.

Mugabe said their perceptions of lawlessness and electoral
violations thatsaw him narrowly win presidential polls in 2002 were based on
"falsehoods".

"The lion of Britain might roar, but we will not hear it.
Britain andAustralia say I am illegitimate. Africa says I am legitimate. Can
all thesepeople be wrong?" Mugabe said.

Last year, Mugabe threatened
to expel Pullen's predecessor and close downthe British diplomatic
mission.

The radio said the government had pondered whether to reject
Dell'sdiplomatic credentials but decided to "give him a chance to prove
himself".

As ambassador-designate in June, Dell told the US Senate
Foreign RelationsCommittee he wanted to see Zimbabwe re-emerge "as a country
with alegitimate, democratically led government that respects the rule of
law andhuman rights".

Afterward, Dell was criticised by Zimbabwean
government officials and thestate media as having prejudged the nation's
record on human and democraticrights.

The state Herald newspaper
reported that Mugabe remonstrated with Dell.

"So, sir, there is that
cloud of suspicion and you have to clear it withyour deeds. If you have been
misrepresented, you have to prove it," he said.

He said if there was any
foreign military intervention "we will turn ourpeople into guerrillas again
should the need arise".

Mugabe, addressing new Nigerian ambassador
Anthony Ufumwen Osula, said therewas a need to "preserve the spirit of
brotherhood" between their twonations.

Once firm allies in the
African Union and other continental bodies, Zimbabwehas accused Nigeria of
funding activities of opponents of Mugabe,accusations denied by both Nigeria
and the opposition Movement forDemocratic Change.

Zimbabwe has also
accused Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo of sidingwith Britain and
Australia in its dispute with the Commonwealth of Britainand its former
territories.

Zimbabwe pulled out of the Commonwealth last year after the
body refused tolift the country's suspension on grounds of vote rigging and
violencereported by its observers surrounding both the presidential polls in
2002and parliamentary polls in 2000.

Mugabe has vowed to allow only
African observers to monitor the nextparliamentary poll in March.